Issue 4 November 2017
Illustration by: Isabel Wright
Contents:
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4 - Editors’ note 6 - Can money buy Happiness? 8 - Meditation 10 - TOP TIPS for university! 12 - What affects Happiness? Struggles with depression 14 - Happiness and Age 16 - Feeling Blue? The impact of colour 18 - Enjoying a laugh? The progression of comedy 20 - Bundles of Joy: Are we the childless generation?
Issue 4: JOY
SPECIAL THANKS Editors
Sarah Thompson Josie Von Jascheroff
Designers
Sarah Thompson Josie Von Jascheroff Steph Rowe Isabel Wright
Contributors Rose Baker Hannah Ryan Camille Stanley Lianne Potts Molly Cheek Samuel Capper Charlie Knights Sarah Harris Deirbhile McQuillan Steph Rowe Gemma Gibson Eva Kwatek Andrea Gao Ellen Littlejohns Alys Jones Karis Pearson Rachael Hutchings Izzy Wright George Caulton
At some point in our lives, each of us will experience joy; be it through the love from our nearest and dearest, success in academia or our careers, or something as simple as finding a new favourite flavour of ice cream. The bittersweet reality is that - no matter how much positivity is in somebody’s life - happiness is one of the most delicate balances I have encountered. I could have had the most wonderful day, but if I slightly overcook the dinner I’m making for a friend, suddenly I’m a failure, everything is awful and I’m useless. Sadly, I know far too many people that empathise with this feeling. Within this issue, we will be exploring the different factors that many believe affect happiness, from age to anti-depressants, and meditation to money. Happiness is so subjective and there’s no true way for me to advise you on how to be happier, but it’s important to remember that it is always worth fighting for, no matter how low you may feel. You are always worth joy and - for the love of all the deities - don’t take citalopram or prozac. I have seen no positive effects. Ever.
- SARAH THOMPSON (Editor)
I once overheard someone say that freedom is a state of mind and for years that phrase has stuck with me. We all know the glass half full metaphor to describe optimists or if turned around, the pessimists, but how much control do we truly have over our happiness? And what factors contribute to our state of being happy or unhappy? What impact do money and age have? Does the feeling of caring and nurturing our own bring ultimate joy? And how can we improve our positivity through self-action such as meditation or even artificially through medication? And when is it time to acknowledge that unhappiness is so deeply rooted that we need outside help? Now the phrase that I happened to catch whilst eavesdropping (don’t you even dare pretend you don’t do it too) implies that we can control how happy we feel. Is happiness truly a choice? Is it that simple? In my opinion, yes and no. Maybe what we need to do is discover what brings us joy, be that a good laugh with friends, a scented candle or our favourite meal and a hot bath after a long day. Maybe we need to make more time for these little things that bring us joy. And maybe we just need to look up at the clouds every once in a while, take a deep breath and remind ourselves that it is okay to have bad days. After all, if we didn’t have any bad days, we couldn’t really appreciate the good ones.
- JOSIE VON JASCHEROFF (Deputy Editor)
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MEET THE TEAM
NAME: Sarah Thompson
NAME: Josie Von Jascheroff
DEGREE: Optometry
DEGREE: English Literature
SOCIETIES: A Cappella!
SOCIETIES: Nothing university-based but I play some netball externally!
HOGWARTS HOUSE: Ravenclaw FUN FACT: I was born in a car that was the same colour as my hair is currently (dark green- blue), and I play 7 musical instruments! PARTY TRICK: I can rap the entirety of ‘Without Me’ by Eminem to perfection.
HOGWARTS HOUSE: I’ve never found out FUN FACT: I’m German with an American accent and I cannot stand orange peel! (I like orange juice though) PARTY TRICK: I can peel oranges with a knife and fork, and I can demolish a tub of peanut butter...
Can
money
buy
Rose Baker and Hannah Ryan debate whether money can truly buy happiness
Money in its purest form cannot buy happiness because it is simply a form of trade between a consumer and a seller. Happiness is an abstract concept; it cannot be bought nor can it be said that those who are wealthier are necessarily happier than those who are not. However, money is at the heart of every single day, and every single person’s decisions. Whether or not you choose to ask that person out on a date may depend on if you have the funds to make it a memorable one. Deciding whether it is feasible to go to university when the fees have been tripled in the past 5 years. The necessity to make these life changing decisions imply that money does buy happiness, because a future can be brighter by having financial security. Of course, the mere act of having money does not make you happier. After all, cash is merely a paper promise for coins that make your hands stink and a bank balance is a number that is more annoying to read if it is a higher number. However, money does not make you happy but having no money makes you miserable. It is how the money is used that means it can buy happiness. Buying the odd little trinket can provide short term happiness, however in the long term this will only reduce financial security and potentially increase worries in the future. Whilst buying your weekly food shop is not the most thrilling way to spend money, being able to afford these essentials without any stress means there is more emotional freedom to take happiness from the smaller things in life. Considering 40% of adults in the UK have finance as their top form of stress , this indicates how prominent money can be in influencing a person’s happiness and general mental wellbeing. In addition, recent studies have found a link between money and sadness , suggesting that having money may not make you happy but could at least reduced sadness levels. Furthermore, it is not necessarily the spending of money on yourself that can affect your happiness. Psychology Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky suggested that whilst personal income only contributes to 10% of a person’s happiness, 40% is based on personal activities, which can include giving money away to charity . Not benefiting the person directly, but a generous act has meant that they are happier. To conclude, because money is such a pivotal part of today’s society, it is preposterous for it to not have any impact on happiness levels, because so many actions are influenced by income levels. Every little penny can make a difference to happiness levels, as Charles Dickens wrote in David Copperfield “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.” - Rose Baker https://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/feb/03/money-worries-britons-stress http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ampp3d/scientists-money-cant-make-you-5056654 https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/jan/07/can-money-buy-happiness
Yes 62%
y
happiness?
7
Design by: Sarah Thompson
s, particularly for a student! It is generally assumed that money, to students, is pretty much the be all and end all. I mean, for us, a heap of money can mean the difference between a diet consisting of beans on toast and party rings, and, well, pasta and, or, fishcakes. With a little extra money, we can even afford to go out to eat and spend a night out in the same week, which is often unheard of amongst students. So, money is pretty important to us. We probably spend the vast majority of our time at university stressing out over it, actually. But does that mean it can bring us happiness? Money might provide us with the means to do some of things we would like to and a significant amount of it might prevent us from worrying about rent, but does our joy really depend upon it? Ultimately, I don’t think so.
No 38%
At university, money, or, rather the lack of, is a pretty huge issue. Thanks to the recent scrapping of maintenance grants, as well as the gradual hike in tuition fees, university is becoming increasingly harder to afford. As a result, financial concerns start to occupy our thoughts, be these ones of the present or the future. This, however, doesn’t mean that our happiness has to be based on how much money we do or do not have. I can recall countless times that I have fallen about laughing with my friends, to the point that I began to feel dizzy, without any of us having spent any money at all. There have been days, spent simply walking down the street with a friend or a lover, that have brought me indescribable happiness. Have there been times that I have wished for more money, or days that I have dedicated to longing to attend a music festival or a holiday that I couldn’t afford? Of course. I, and everyone I know, would be lying if they said they hadn’t ever desired more money. As a twenty-year-old bartender, I currently earn £5.60 an hour. As a part-time worker while at university, this means that funds are probably going to be relatively low when I return in September, considering that the vast majority of my student loan goes straight into rent and other essentials. Does this mean that my happiness will lessen as a result? Will my experience at university be hugely affected by this? Honestly, the answer is no. Sure, a lack of funds may call for a budget but what it won’t do is prevent me from finding joy. I may not be able to afford certain luxuries and I might have to work a few extra nights but, ultimately, I believe that happiness springs from the simple things, like huddling together with your housemates and watching a film so bad all you can do is revel in its terribleness. Or putting on that awful playlist of noughties music again. Happiness in its purest form can never be bought with money. -Hannah Ryan
*Taken from a survey Q3 held on 01/09/2017
Camille Stanley “Meditation”: The benefits, doubts, and how-tos.
9 When the topic of meditation comes up in conversation the stereotypical image of a religious Buddhist emitting a calming ‘umming’ sound with legs crossed in an alarmingly flexible position is usually what springs to peoples mind. Meditation is not practiced or discussed by large amounts of young people, perhaps because it is harder to relate to an activity which we assume doesn’t typically represent the kind of person we are. But meditation can be practiced regardless of gender, sex, class, race or orientation. It is an exercise focused entirely on yourself and not reliant on others opinions or presence. It is one of those things which we assume has an easy formula - breathe deeply + clear mind = become at one with the world, conquer all your problems and be a generally zen person. Just like striving for that summer health goal - eat healthier + exercise more = ooze health, green juice and enjoyment of all things squat related. The formulas are there and the goal is desired, it just seems hard to put into practice due to it being an added commitment and having the niggling doubt that we may just not be any good at it. But if someone had told me that in exchange for 10 minutes of my time a situation which had been causing me stress would be easier to approach, I would have given them 20 minutes. An effective meditation exercise really can be as short as 10 minutes or however long you have. Now my time efficiency skills are something I am quite proud of, this summer I would regularly try to fit an hour long episode of Love Island into the 30 minutes I had spare before work. Who knows how many hours I spent watching the show altogether but I am going to guess it was a lot. Me being previously astounded at the possibility of trying to fit in 10 minutes of my day to meditate seems natural but kind of ridiculous right? So you have created 10 minutes in your day to meditate but when you try to clear your thoughts you just can’t quite help yourself from getting distracted. It’s the age old dilemma of someone telling you ‘don’t think about the pink elephant’ and now all you can think about is the damn pink elephant. A misconception of mediation is that if your thoughts wander then you are not successfully meditating. This is false. When this happens acknowledge what is on your mind, accept that it is not a priority right now and return to not allowing outside stresses to affect you in this moment. One of the main benefits of meditation is being able to detach yourself from the uncontrollable events of your external environment and allowing yourself the control to not be distracted by your phone or others. Getting ‘me time’ is an important aspect of my day. Alongside things like taking a bath, exercising or watching your favourite programme, meditation can also be considered as one of the best forms of ‘me time’. It allows you to focus fully on just you and on just being. The website Psychology Today compiled a list of studies which cover the benefits of meditation which, are you ready, include - decreases anxiety, decreases tension related pain, increases productivity, increases your ability to be creative, increases social connection and emotional intelligence and for a really technical benefit scientists also conducted a study which showed significant increases in the grey matter of the brain (the part which is a major component
of the central nervous system and controls most functions of the body and mind) in people who meditate regularly. If all those benefits sound inviting but you’re still a little sceptical maybe I can convince you with a short and sweet guide on how to meditate in a free and easy way for us money and time strapped students: 1). Find somewhere comfortable and quiet, you can sit in any position. (If you lay down you may fall asleep but if you’re meditating at night due to having difficulty falling asleep or just generally want a nice nap then by all means carry on). 2). You can use a timer on your phone and set it for however long you wish to meditate for. Or there are lots of great apps that you can download which are helpful for beginners as the speakers will guide you on how to make the most of your meditation and are also helpful if you are meditating for a specific reason such as sleep, morning yoga or positive affirmations. Some of the best apps out there include - Insight Timer (completely free), Calm, Buddhify and Headspace. Just make sure your phone is on silent! 3). You can then centre your focus on yourself. Whether this be by a simple breathing exercise to calm yourself or thinking about something you want to achieve that day. Breathing in and exhaling out through your nose creates a slower exhalation, making your breathes feel more effortless and controlled. 4). If you feel ridiculous for the first 10 seconds and can’t stop thinking about what your next meal is going to be, worry not! Perseverance is needed at the beginning of meditation to become comfortable with making yourself a priority. Tailoring mediation to suit you is one of the best and most rewarding parts about it. I know a man who meditates every morning for an hour and he is arguably the calmest, coolest guy out there, but if I can only fit in 10 minutes every other day then that is okay too. I challenged myself to meditate for a short time for a consecutive number of days and each day I noticed things became a bit easier. Writing 1000 words during summer become more do-able rather than daunting, getting up in the morning before work became more positive and the occasions where I would be snappy became less frequent. Meditation may work better for some than others but by deconstructing the myths about it being inaccessible, wholly religious or impossible to master, it will hopefully become a more viable option in helping to find a moment to ourselves, deal with stress and improve self-awareness and confidence. Click here to be taken to a spotify playlist that we find suitable for relaxation...
Join a society! There are hundreds of them here, and it’s honestly the best way to make friends – you know you have at least one thing in common.
Conserve the takeaways! Delicious as they are, they’ll also burn a massive hole in your money.
Keep your door open as much as possible! Don’t bring too much stuff; you don’t need as much as you think you will!
There’s so much more to do in Cardiff than just hitting the sesh!
Wales is a pretty great place, so hop on a train and check out Barry Island, or get a group together and go to the Brecon Beacons (Give it a Go even takes a trip up there to see the Waterfalls!).
Live Lounge, £1 Sambuca and VKs are the ways to joy in my mind.
Don’t wear yourself out! Don’t feel pressured into going out if you’re not feeling it, there’s no shame in having a night in with a facemask and Netflix!
Learn to improvise everything!
Charlie Knights - Blue Lianne Potts - Green Molly Cheek - Pink Samuel Capper - Red Sarah Thompson - Purple There are enough houses in Cardiff that you don’t need to be pressured into living with your Talybont flatmates from first year if you don’t want to!
Take a certain amount of cash on a night out - not your card - there won’t be an emergency, just more Jaegerbombs.
NEVER buy the “essential” reading books unless you like being in debt; borrow them from libraries or other students.
Be more than your Gap Yah.
Add a few plants to your university bedroom to boost your mood and tackle homesickness in those first few weeks of term; they add a colourful splash of green in amongst all your beige furniture, and are a great way to make your room feel more like home.
There’s no point pretending to be somebody new; it’s exhausting and you’ll have to be honest eventually and that’ll just be awkward.
11 Embrace your independence. Call your mum once a week for more than just asking for cash, but don’t text your old best mate 20 times a day.
Fail quickly, fail often, and keep going. Take some time to be sad, but everything happens for a reason.
Do something that terrifies you. Talk to that girl in your Intro to Psych lecture, jump off a waterfall, run in a SU election. You’ll learn more than you regret!
What affects our Happiness? A contemplation by a sufferer of clinical depression.
Words by: Sarah Harris Design by: Sarah Thompson
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I was talking to a friend the other day about happiness. What truly defines happiness? Is it a sensation of joy and if so,
what brings you joy? People tend to associate joy with being given a material item. So if that’s the case, do you have to receive something to feel happy? I guess there are two sides to happiness – the physical and the mental. I like to think that Disney’s ‘Inside Out’ is a fairly accurate and scientific film and there is, in fact, a small, yellow fairy wandering around in my head pressing certain buttons, which rush a wave of emotions through my body. But I’ve watched enough episodes of Greys Anatomy to know that this isn’t true and happiness is linked to a whole load of factors such as serotonin levels and the mental health history of your relatives. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illnesses, 1 in 5 young people in today’s world suffer from a mental health problem, most of which have the common symptom of ‘low moods.’ In a world full of emerging products and hefty student loans, wouldn’t it make sense for all of us to be a bundle of joy? Fair enough, we’re all in a bit of a mood at a 9AM lecture on a Wednesday morning but who isn’t? Despite this, it’s becoming increasingly more common for University students, in particular, to report feelings of unhappiness and mood swings to their GP. In 2012 alone, the World Health Organization found that an estimated 16 million people in the US faced at least one depressive episode. Although being unhappy does not mean you’re clinically depressed, it can be a huge contributing factor for many people. Happiness wasn’t of much scientific concern until the last century. Research found that happiness is a combination of your satisfaction with everyday life and your mood levels. But is that really true? As someone who suffers from chronic depression, I don’t completely agree with the fact that happiness is related to either material objects or your satisfaction with everyday life. Being in the prime of my youth, I could say that I have a pretty great life and apart from the looming thought of my future or pending coursework submissions, I have very little to worry about. Despite that, without a tiny yellow pill called ‘Mirtazapine,’ that I take every day, I’m pretty sure I would be in a worse mental state than I would be if I woke up on a Sunday morning after a hardcore night out at Pryzm. Over the years, I’ve found that my mental health is linked to many different factors and every person has different triggers. Personally, I find sleep to play a huge role with whether I’m happy or not. I know that probably goes for a lot of university students but after having previously gone months in a row with just under 4 hours of sleep and experiencing random bursts of crying in the middle of lectures for no reason whatsoever, it was evident that for me, more sleep meant a happier Sarah. Every mental illness is different and everyone suffers in his or her own way. Looking at happiness from a slightly more scientific angle, happiness is linked to chemical messengers in our brains known as ‘neurotransmitters.’ Neurotransmitters transmit signals from one nerve cell to another and play a tremendous role in shaping our everyday life. It’s not as of yet known, how many different types of neurotransmitters there are, but scientists have already identified over 100. The most common neurotransmitter linked to happiness is serotonin. It’s been found that people who suffer from depression often have a lower level of serotonin than the average human and are therefore usually treated with SSRI’s (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors), a controversial yet effective anti-depressant. Funnily enough, a common side effect of SSRI’s is low mood, loss of appetite, suicidal thoughts and mood swings. These effects tend to die down within a few weeks of taking the medication consistently, however, it’s strange that something that’s claimed to help with depression, can in fact make you more depressed. A housemate of mine in second year had in fact been taking Citalopram, an SSRI and often expressed to us that they felt a hundred times worse after having started his course on the medication. It’s not to say that this is the case for everyone. SSRI’s must have to be successful for them to be so highly recommended by hundreds of general practitioners. The Ancient Greek link happiness to the concept of Eudemonia, with the most accurate translation of the term being ‘human flourishing.’ However, as I said earlier, it is difficult to identify one sole thing that is needed to have a ‘happy life.’ Stories emerge almost weekly of billionaires who claim that they still can’t seem to find happiness despite their material success and vice versa, I’m sure you’ve all come across the odd inspirational story of people who’ve had very little in the form of materials, yet are happier than the average person. Its clear happiness is dependent on the type of person you are as well as your quality of life and hormone levels. But essentially the most important thing to remember is, that happiness isn’t something you need to go out of your way to search for and often comes with the small things that may not be as apparent to you. Abraham Lincoln once said, “folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
School cancelled because of heavy snow, a spontaneous trip to MacDonalds for tea, a guy you like adding you on MSN- those were the days. During the younger years such little things could bring us the ultimate happiness, and more than likely these little memories will keep us happy for years on end. With age, however, it can become a little harder, we tend to find it more challenging to smile at the things that once made us jump for joy, and instead we look to find happiness through extravagant holidays in five-star villas, marriage and children by 28, cocktail nights with old pals, or achieving the best grades and the ‘Employee of the Month’ title. It’s not a bad thing, like the rest of the body, our perception of happiness changes as we change. With age comes more responsibility and new chapters, which can consequently amend what we consider to be our ‘happiness’. After a hard week running around work, happiness to you now may be clocking out and heading straight home with takeaway in tow, ready for a candlelit bath followed by a night of reality TV and a glass of wine. I don’t know about you, but as a child I could not think of anything more boring. Growing up can be hard-hitting on our emotions. With every birthday comes another bill to pay, more arguments with colleagues, family and friends, heartbreak and health concerns, but also as the years pass more and more things trigger our happiness too. Love, endless achievements, independence, holidays, new friendships- the list goes on. Most importantly, with age happiness becomes an emotion we desire to share with other people. The foundation of happiness not only comes from the little things that make us happy, but also from making others happy too. It becomes more important and worthwhile in later life to give a helping hand to others and make them smile, whether that be helping fix a broken TV, taking a friend to the movies for their birthday, giving the grandkids some chocolate or money when Mum’s not looking, even smiling at a stranger and making their day. This doesn’t mean to say we will no longer radiate happiness about the same things we did growing up, I mean I will always be excited when Mum brings home a ton of pizza or when I get a new colouring book. Inevitably, new and exciting things will make us happy as well. Happiness develops and blossoms with time just like we do, when we grow as people and gain more life experience and memories. Sometimes it can be harder to achieve said happiness, for example counting down the days until that trip to the beach, or fretfully waiting to buy a new car. But there will always be the little things that can make you happy throughout. What made you happy as a child will always keep you smiling, whether you need to go play with some Lego, or meet with the gang for another junk food binge and movie night. Age is just a number. It is natural for happiness to change as we do over time, but an age should never define you, nor should it dictate your happiness. - Gemma Gibson
When you’re younger, life seems simpler. Dropping your ice cream is the biggest disaster you will ever face and a piece of chalk on concrete is the best fun you’ll ever have. Being footloose and fancy-free is what adults miss about being children. And yet every young teen wishes they were older. The grass always seems greener on the other side. But is it really all that different? At the end of the day, it’s the simple things in life, which bring us the most happiness. Spending a day in the sun with your friends and family, a hot drink on a cold day or walking through the park in spring can be some of the best things to experience in life. The key to happiness is appreciating what you have, a quality that comes with age. Kids may not realise this but they are still happy with the simple things they have. It’s only when we enter adulthood that we lose track of things when worries like A-Levels, university, Jobs, experiences, bills and mortgages start flooding in and we get caught up in it all. The U-shape pattern of happiness happens across the entire world and, arguably, it’s because of the way we live our lives. As children, we’re not concerned with these big issues. Instead, we care whether or not we’re having spaghetti for dinner and what our friend said to us at school. But once we enter those teen years, the big questions start cropping up. Who am I? What do I want to do with my life? What do I have to do to get there? Add in the stress of exams and possibilities of further education and we can all feel overwhelmed. Studies have shown that this trend usually continues until late 40s with the so-called ‘Midlife Crisis’. After all this, people get a little introspective, taking a good look at their life and where they are and come to realise what’s really important that they lost track of along the way, leading to the up curve again. Stop stressing, take a minute to breathe. What are you really happy about? Life comes with all its ups and downs, but it’s taking things as they come and being appreciative of what you really have that makes happiness. If wisdom does come with experience, then taking the time to enjoy something small every now and again is what makes life happy. Enjoying a fresh apple in a moment of peace can make you happier than a meal in a five-star restaurant if you take the time to sit back and enjoy it. Children and older people often understand this better, because in our adulthood we are too rushed and busy with getting things done that we let these little things get dropped by the wayside. Happiness can’t be bought with fancy gadgets or nice things, it makes life easier especially in today’s world, but enjoying yourself is more important. - Deirbhile McQuillan
Design by: Steph Rowe and Sarah Thompson
15
Illustrations: Steph Rowe Words by: Gemma Gibson, Deirbhile McQuillan, and Steph Rowe.
As a child, I think family is one of the major factors that bring us happiness! All my mum’s old disposable camera photos were taken of my brother and me when we were younger, being thrown into the air by my grandparents or of my cousins putting us into silly costumes. In the photos we’re all grinning at the lens or each other! I think time spent with your family throughout your childhood is massively important in creating the memories that will give you a free-spirited, nostalgic happiness when you look back on them in later life. We are made happy by the things our parents do for us, whether that’s taking us to LEGOLAND, surprising us with a camping trip or buying us the new power ranger toy or Barbie doll. Materialistic things also contribute to our happiness when we’re young when all you want to do is to show off your newest toys to your friends. As we grow up, to appreciate non-materialist things such as friendships. I don’t know about you, but in the stage of moving from primary school to secondary school, friendships and being accepted into the hierarchy of school life took up a lot of my thoughts. I spent a lot of time worrying about what others thought of me in my teenage years. If I was invited to a birthday party or had a good group of people to sit with at lunch, then I felt accepted and happy. As we move onto our late teens, I think we learn to accept ourselves for who we are and become our own person. We realise that we can’t let others define us and control what makes us happy. We learn to manage our own happiness and embrace who we are, instead of copying others to feel accepted. Once I hit adulthood, I think I found this form of self-acceptance. But with age comes more responsibility and, inevitably, more stress. So I feel like happiness at this point is brought to you through your passions and achievements. For example, spending a day completing a project, getting good grades in an exam you worked really hard at, or getting that dream job are what makes you happy. I think happiness also comes from the down time you get with friends. You appreciate the time you get to spend with them more because you’re all not busy revising, working or doing other responsibilities, so you’re more grateful for the time you get to spend with them- whether that’s in a club, or a café or even a yoga class! You appreciate that out of all your busy schedules, you all want to take the time to see each other, whereas at school it was so much easier. Now, being only 19 this is all I can draw upon this much from my own experiences, however I asked parents, grandparents and friends what they think about how happiness changes as they age. They confirmed that when you have children, a lot of your happiness tends to come from your kids’ accomplishments. Spending time with your significant other and your new family makes you happy, and if your child is content with their friends and they’re doing well in school, a lot of your worries are taken away from you. As you get to old age, you appreciate the smaller things, such as the friends you have and the family that you see regularly. As you grow up, the number of friends you have and see on the daily may decrease in number, but they increase in importance, as you are more grateful for those who have made the effort and stuck around and supported you over the years. You learn to worry about less, and take things with a pinch of salt because you have experienced similar situations before. With age you gain experience, and an extensive gift of hindsight, which gives you the ability to not only know how to deal with life’s stresses a little bit better, but also allows you to look back on your favourite memories and again feel some of the happiness they brought you. -Steph Rowe
Feeling
Blue?
The impact of colours on our happiness.
Words by: Eva Kwatek Design by: Josie Von Jascheroff
17 Are you feeling a little blue and can’t figure out why? Well, there are many things that can affect our mood on a daily basis like the weather, the music that we listen to, how clean our shared kitchen is in the morning or how many assignments we have to hand in this week. But one of the major factors that is often overlooked is the colours, which surround us. For years, researchers have been studying how different colours and tones affect our moods. The concepts they have come up with could help us to balance the colours in our lives and improve things such as boosting learning by employing the psychology behind colour theory. Ongoing research by scientists and psychologists has produced studies, which suggest that our brains may respond better to some colours than others. Blue, for example, brings out the creativity in you, while red is a stimulating colour that keeps you alert for longer. In schools, when marking, teachers tend to use red for mistakes and green for positive feedback, which from a young age gets us into the habit of recognising colours as good or bad. In science, however, there are no good or bad colours, just ones that stimulate the brain in different ways. Colours all have different wavelengths; the longer the wavelength the more stimulating the colour. Red, having the longest wavelength, is a colour that often evokes emotions of excitement, alertness, anger or passion, while green, being in the middle of the colour spectrum, is seen as a balancing colour that brings calmness and harmony. Educating bodies have begun recognising different types of learners and for visual learners they suggest the use of colours to enhance learning and memory, as studies show that humans memorise colours first over shapes, words or numbers. Armed with the scientific research on how our brains are more receptive to, certain colours companies and brands use colour in their logos to evoke desired emotions in people and to make their products and services more memorable. Dark greens and blues are associated with money, bank notes and confidence, so often these colours will be used by banks. Meanwhile, black is seen as promoting luxury and high class and is used in relation to fashion and commerce. But are these associations of colour just enforced upon us by big brands and societal perceptions, or is there more to it? Well, the association of colours to certain characteristics and meanings dates back to the beginning of time when, for example, the colour yellow was associated with sunlight or later the flame from candlelight, and therefore was perceived as bringing hope, happiness, and optimism. Night time and darkness were the unknown, so black and dark shades were seen as evoking fear and uncertainty. Green brought balance, prosperity, and confidence because a green landscape indicated good weather and good crop growth. Over time these societal perceptions changed with the discovery of the unknown and as different cultures and religions
emerged colours began to mean different things to different people, hence why today there are countless theories of what each colour means and what that says about the personality of those who favour that colour. Perceptions of colours and their symbolic meanings can be a much more personal than we realise. Although the scientific facts are there, and the society’s expectations and perceptions are solidly in place, everyone is an individual and there is not one colour that fits all. It is perhaps best to be more in tune with what colours mean to you personally than what they are supposed to mean to the majority. After all, bad experiences and memories can make the happiest or the saddest colour for someone. For centuries artists have used colours in their paintings not just to copy the real life but also to express their moods and emotions with the most famous example being Picasso’s blue period. From around 1901 to 1904 Picasso mainly painted in shades of blue, which reflected his depression following the suicide of a friend, and the disturbing sights he saw while travelling through Spain. Wassily Kandinsky, on the other hand, is known best for his iconic abstract paintings in bold colours which he created with the aim of evoking thoughts and emotions in the viewer, rather than portraying his own moods. So what are the best colours to decorate your uni room or to fill your wardrobe with? If going purely with the scientific point of view then reds, oranges, and yellows are likely to stimulate productivity and alertness while dark blues may help to get those creative juices flowing - be careful of lighter shades and pastels as they can create the perfect atmosphere for nap time. Often the lighter shades of blue are recommended in the area where you sleep as they have a calming effect and so may help you get to sleep. The bottom line is that you should probably just surround yourself with colours that you love and that match your personality, be that bright orange or some kind of muted blue, because that is what will make you the happiest. Whether you see life through fifty shades of grey or rose tinted glasses, there’s a colour and a shade out there for you, and since the human eye can see 7-10 million colours, there is plenty to experiment with if you so wish. Go and paint the town red… or blue, or yellow or pink, or grey…
Comedy: EnJO In modern days, when speaking of comedy, we often refer to a genre that characterises the world of the performing arts. However, comedy also represents a fundamental element that has accompanied human history since ancient Greece to teach humans how to enjoy a moment of relax from the frenetic life we live in. Throughout the years comedy has changed shape, style and even the platforms through which it is performed, yet comedy remains a vital fount of joy and happiness, a moment of recreation which delights our lives to come back after the performances lighter and happier. Comedy incorporates the most truthful meaning of the word ‘joy’ and that’s why I would like to take you in a small journey through some of the most important styles of comedy such as the Italian Commedia dell’arte, slapstick and stand-up comedy, and finally end our voyage to what we have nowadays, modern comedy.
1) COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE: In 1545 the theatre company Fraternal Compagnia was founded in Padova, Italy. This is considered one of the first companies to put on stage performances of Commedia dell’arte – “Comedy of the Profession” in English – that was interpreted by actors wearing a mask which represented the face of their character. The actors had no actual scripts, but only a “canovaccio” which gave them guidelines on the attitudes and characteristics of their masks. The entire performance was based on the requests made by the audience and the improvised jokes that came up during the evolving of the show. This type of comedy is particularly interesting because it gave birth to lots of famous masks such as Harlequin, that today are used during the celebration of Carnival in February. Furthermore, in the Commedia dell’arte performances we saw for the first time the appearance of women on stage, which, at the time, had been very criticised especially by members of the Clergy.
2) SLAPSTICK: One of the props used in the Italian comedies was the so-called “batacchio” or slapstick, which was a wooden stick divided into two that created the sound of a slap and was used for funny scenes where one character hit the other one to produce laughter. This instrument gave the name to the “Slapstick” which is a form of comedy that arose in France at the beginning of the 19th century and was then exported to the United States. There, it became particularly famous during the roaring 20s thanks to great artists such as Charlie Chaplin, the Marx brothers, or the Three Stooges. Slapstick comedies were characterised by a lack of dialogue and a focus on a more physical comedy making the audience laugh through funny actions rather than jokes. Things like the slip on a banana or a cake in the face are funny scenes that we have all seen at least once in our lives which were invented in the slapstick comedies and have left a mark on the history of comedy forever.
OYing a laugh
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Design by: Sarah Thompson Words by: Andrea Gaini
4) MODERN COMEDY:
3) STAND-UP COMEDY: Another type that makes up the amazing plurality of comedy is the “stand-up”, which consists of a very simple setting: an artist, a stage and a couple of props. However, the art of a stand-up show is not easy at all. The artist tells funny stories and jokes to entertain the audience while interacting with them asking questions and opinions on the topics touched during the show. The artist is continuously required to respond the audience interactions and change the show based on taste of the audience. The pressure to which the performer is exposed to is very high and even a joke gone wrong can change the success of the entire show. This type of comedy is rooted in the ancient Greek comedy and it has ever since accompanied comedy in its progression to the future. For this reason, the complexity that lays behind it is very important and often marks the difference between a good comedian and a bad one. Furthermore, because of its continuity over time, stand-up comedy represents a fundamental step in the career of an aspiring comedian even in modern day comedy.
If there’s something we can get out of this little journey is that comedies are always connected and always influence one another. That’s why modern comedy can easily be defined as a combination of many different styles learned over the years and applied to new comedies by the artists. With the invention of the radio and later of the television comedy has spread from theatres to broadcasting shows where human imagination has taken a further step into creativity. Modern comedy goes from tv shows like “How I Met Your Mother” or “Friends”, films like “Love Actually” and even to performances of stand-up comedy that have been brought on the small and big screen. The style of modern comedies can be very variable depending on the artist and its cultural education. The break of many barriers has led the way to a much more opened comedy that often talks about taboo subjects like sex and gender. Comedy has taken a much more complex role of educator as well as entertainment. Comedies often have a moral finale in which the artist expresses their personal opinion and view of the world. In the history of performing arts comedy represents a central genre around which many other styles and forms of arts have developed. Comedy can be found in any period of history because humans have always felt the need of a moment of “hakuna matata” where you can enjoy a good a laugh without worrying about the problems we face every day. Comedy is the spark that lights the flame of joy in the heart of the men and women all around the world: a magical power that makes comedy incredibly essential in our lives.
Bundles Are we the of childless Joy generation?
Design by: Sarah Thompson
Rachael Hutchings
Isabel Wright
The most common reaction I experience when I tell people I never want children is one of both shock and sympathy. People simply cannot believe that I wouldn’t want to experience bringing about the ‘miracle of life’, and they feel sorry that I’m doomed to an unfulfilled, childless existence. However, it seems that, despite feeling alone in not wanting children, I’m not alone at all. In fact, in 2014, 47.6% of women between 15 and 44 were childless. So why is this? It seems that many women feel a pressure to choose between children and a career. Aspects of this choice used to be easier; well paying, stable jobs were far more readily available, and senior positions were generally dominated by men, giving them little choice. However, today, women have many difficult decisions to make: will they be able to keep up with the soaring price of living? To make enough money to support themselves, let alone a child? Many baby-boomers focus on the ‘selfishness’ of childless women, not considering that it can be more compassionate to abstain from having a child if you feel you cannot give it the quality of life it deserves. Despite economic factors influencing many, for some women, the idea of having children just holds no appeal. Today, the decision not to be a mother/ housewife is acceptable, therefore they choose to exercise their right not to bear children. On the other hand, there are many women with huge career ambitions and a wish to have children. It seems that there are many ways in which this can be achieved. The rules of childcare are far more fluid; stay at home dads, although only making up 16% of primary caregivers, are on the rise, and many couples are sharing the burden of childcare rather than it falling on one parent alone. Ultimately, whether someone has children shouldn’t be the business of anyone but themselves, and, childless or not, everyone deserves to have their decisions respected.
Having children has never been something that has been a fundamental point in my 5, 10 or 15-year plans. It’s not that I am against it, and I do truly believe that a bond between a parent and a child is one that cannot be rivalled – both my mum and my dad truly are my biggest fans and best friends. However, education and careers have always been put ahead of this in what I prioritise for my future. Some people may think this is selfish, but I consider it more logical. My mother works with children very closely. She works in a school and also in a before and after-school club, which naturally means we’ve had many a conversation about the dynamic of families, based on what she has observed through her job. She works in a primary school in an affluent area, with parents she sees every day dropping their children off. They entrust her and her colleagues to care for their bundles of joy while they shoot off to their jobs as surgeons, barristers and businesspeople. It isn’t uncommon for a child to be dropped off before 8 am, and then to be picked up gone 6, due to the highintensity and responsibility of their parents’ jobs. Whilst this is generally the purpose of after-school facilities, I cannot help but think that the quality of life for these little ones must be missing something due to the sheer amount of time they spend away from their families. Waking up in the morning and spending an hour together rushing to get ready, then getting in and not truly being able to unwind together because bedtime is looming. I think it is unfair for a child to bring them into this world and then palm them off in the care of others while you fulfil ambitions and careers. Starting a family is a full-time commitment after all.
Alys Jones
For every woman in the UK, there are 1.81 babies born. This is a dramatic drop from the 1960s when fertility rates were far higher. There are many reasons that the fertility rate drops, a huge factor being the state of the economy. In times of economic crisis, people simply can’t afford to have children. To raise a child born last year to age 21, it costs approximately £232,000. This huge increase might be what put us off. However, inflation has not been the only change since the 1960s: society is different today. To those of us who are growing up now, family may not be an inevitable outcome. Perhaps we’ll choose not to have children. Perhaps we won’t be so fortunate in being able to have them easily. Perhaps we’re prioritising career goals before we even think about babies. Perhaps there are other keys to our happiness than the traditional family. We have been (rather condescendingly) called the Peter Pan Generation, because we don’t grow up. Well, not as fast as previous generations, anyway. Milestones like buying a house, getting a job, and getting married come much later in life for us. If we don’t have the money for these milestones until later in life, where is the time for such large families as our grandparents had? This combination of societal change and economic crisis have left us with a generation that is having fewer children. The first time I consider that I don’t have to have children and it changed my worldview. Suddenly, not everything is such a pressing matter. There is time to think about the different paths I could take. But then I see my friends who are so happy with their little babies and mortgages. I wonder, have we been overthinking this all along?
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Ellen Littlejohns
My mum never wanted nor planned to have children. She was content devoting her time to her cats and only having herself to worry about; and if it weren’t for a loss in the family and a consequent re-evaluation of her stance on kids, I wouldn’t be here today contemplating why exactly so many people veer away from having children. I’m often guilty of worrying that I only want them because I need to meet society’s expectations, but you have to question where ‘society’s expectations’ are headed nowadays. With the number of pensioners aging without the support of children expected to double to a million by 2030, we can’t say that we’re all bound by custom to start families. After speaking to some friends, I gauged a vague idea of why there seems to be such a defiant split in Millennials over whether they see sprogs in their future or simply a vast horizon of expensive holidays and total independence. The biggest response seemed to be that children were financial and temporal burdens. Whilst they drain your wallets and purses for around eighteen years, they are, of course, a lifelong commitment. Even when they’ve left home, they may need financial support for uni, or for a deposit on a house, or for a wedding. Even now my mum often has to ask my grandma for help with the mortgage repayments. You also have to consider how starting a family can rid you of independence. As soon as a child comes into the picture, there’s a whole new person to think about. You want to go out with your friends? You’ll need to find a babysitter. You want to treat yourself to a new outfit? You’ll have to see how much money you have left after forking out for your child’s school trip and their new school shoes. It may be that the thought of having to prioritise another person above oneself is enough to put us off having children altogether. But at the same time, that could be exactly what makes us want to bring someone into the world. For some of us, the idea of providing for and creating a life for a child is the ultimate goal. When I asked my best friend’s mum why she had four children, she simply replied, “It was what I was meant to do”. Her dream of having a family overtook all personal and career-related aspirations; giving life to someone that was a part of her gave her much more happiness as she believed motherhood to be her destiny. Maternal instinct is a very real thing, and even though it’s much less talked about, paternal instinct is too. I was quite taken aback when I asked a male friend about his stance on having children. Besides a biological instinct to reproduce, he told me how he wants children “to protect, father, and watch grow into strong and mature adults, someone to make life exciting and challenging but rewarding too, and to keep the legacy I one day leave behind alive”. Our generation is clearly still serious about wanting children – be that due to biology, the ultimate dream of parenthood, or simply because we want someone to take care of us when we’re old - family culture is still huge. Yet more and more of us are still just as happy without plans to start a family. Perhaps we want more independence, or we simply don’t see children as integral components in the pursuit of lifelong happiness. We don’t need to have a child to confirm any kind of love or commitment between ourselves and a partner, nor do we need them to signify that we are well-accomplished adults – we can do that without the aid of a child. So, it seems that those of us who do want children don’t feel as such because of some need to declare something profound about our lives; we simply want to create happy additions to our already happy lives.
Karis Pearson
The decision on whether to have children is one of the most life-changing you make. The facts are in and fewer people are choosing to procreate, the question is why? Statistically Europe and the USA have increasingly low birth rates and some social scientists think this results from the huge shift in social norms and expectations. There has been massive progress in what is expected of young women, who today are faced with a future far different to the one they would have had no more than fifty years ago. In the 1950’s it would have been common to be married and a mother by your late teens to early twenties and by contrast, according to UCAS, there are now more women than ever being accepted to study at university! Starting a family is put on the backburner for many couples who wish to leave childrearing until later in life. I often hear friends say they want to “enjoy their twenties” before they begin to think about settling down and having children. Increased longevity puts less pressure on people to pump children out early so that they can still make the most of their years once their children have grown up. Availability of IVF on the NHS may have helped sway more couples into waiting until later in life to try for a baby, but current funding cuts for NHS provided IVF may reverse this trend once again. For many people, children just do not feature in their happily ever after. While babies are cute and smell lovely (most of the time that it), we only live once. Many do not wish to live without the freedom to hop on a plane to the Maldives at leisure, or spend their hard-earned income as they please. The cost of having a child puts a lot of people in a predicament. Childrearing is an expensive industry and financially supporting a child until they reach adulthood can cost on average 180,000 pounds according to 2017 figures. Considering all the financial burdens people today face, adding the growth and sustenance of another human being is not for everyone.
George Caulton
For me, procreation is one of the most beautiful things that a human being is blessed with. I’ve always wanted children - I’d be lying if I said otherwise. Despite the crying, whining, whinging, screaming and changing nappies, my parents often tell me that there is nothing better than looking down at your own creation; your own little bundle of joy. To see a little person that is half of you and half of someone that you love is one of those feelings that I genuinely cannot wait to feel. Knowing that this little person is in your hands is an exciting, yet daunting prospect. There are a variety of reasons why many people, students in particular, may not want children due to the cost, sacrificing career development or the lack of free time, yet I believe the creation of a family is amazing. Though my family is not the most conventional, both my parents and their new partners could not imagine life without children. Children complete a family, they are a symbol of happiness. The money and time which is invested in them will inevitably pay off and you will reap the rewards. The morals which have been embedded into me from a young age by my parents will be generationally passed on. Older generations will pass away, but children will always be a badge of honour as you help them to grow and mature to the next stages of their lives.
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